World oil prices jumped briefly on Wednesday after a television station
> in Tulsa, Oklahoma -- the No. 62 U.S. media market -- posted an
> erroneous story about a refinery fire on its Web site.
Someone explain something to me.
Why would the price of a raw material go up due to a refinery fire? It'd be like the price of wheat rising on news of a fire at a Wonder Bread factory. I could see the price of gasoline rising, but not oil.
John Mayson Austin, Texas, USA
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not really, since there is a more than ample supply of wheat with which to make more bread, but oil is a somewhat more limited substance. And, refineries do more with crude oil than simply make gasoline. How about all sorts of 'petroleum-based' by-products? PAT]